


Always Watching

by CreatorXXIII



Series: Always Watching, Never Forgetting [1]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Evolution au, Grian has a secret, My First Fanfic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Watcher AU, hermitcraft au, just all of the hermits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:02:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24688813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreatorXXIII/pseuds/CreatorXXIII
Summary: The only relationships in this will be friendships.Grian must understand that he cannot run from his past, no matter how much he wants to.
Series: Always Watching, Never Forgetting [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813366
Comments: 10
Kudos: 137





	1. The Tower and the symbol

Xisuma was tired, very tired. He had just finished up a meeting with Wels and was flying back to his base when a strange obsidian tower came into view.

Confused, he decided to land on the tower so he could see if anyone besides himself were still awake. After landing, he presses a button on his arm and pulls up the player list to see that only Wels, Mumbo, and himself were awake.

Now even more confused than before, he calls over a bee from a nearby tree to assess the situation,

“Buzz,” the bee says as it pops into the world from its hive,

“I need you to find out who built this.” Xisuma replies,

The bee seems to nod, puts on a determined face, and then flies into the tower, all that follows is the sound of it buzzing around before it spontaneously bursts into flame and dies.

“Well, that’s not good,” remarks Xisuma, he then takes out his communicator,

Hey Wels, could you help me with something? I am at the obsidian tower in between our bases, bring your armor

A few seconds pass before he gets a reply,

on my way

Around a minute later, Wels touches down on the tower

“What is this place?” Asks Wels, 

“That’s the problem, I don’t know.” Replies Xisuma, “I was flying back to my base and I saw this thing. I tried to figure out who made it but it killed my bee.”

“Well, I am always willing to help a friend.” Says Wels,

“Before we go in, let's make sure we are prepared.” Replies Xisuma, placing down an ender chest and taking his gear out of it. 

Wels nods and takes out his own stuff, “thanks again for letting me back on the server.”

“No problem,” Xisuma says, “you’re always welcome here.”

After the two hermits had geared up, they take out their swords and shields and descend down the spiral staircase of the tower. The two of them then find themselves in a large room made entirely out of obsidian with no lighting in sight.

“This place is giving me bad vibes,” says Wels, “all of this obsidian is just unnerving, not to mention the bedrock in the floor.”

Xisuma stops and kneels down to get a closer look, he takes out a pick and tries to mine it to no avail, “that’s bedrock alright.” he remarks as he gets back up,

“Do you reckon that it means anything?” asks Wels, “Like if it is of importance.”

“Well judging by the fact that it is laid out in the shape of a broken nether portal,” says Xisuma, “I would say yes.”

The two hermits continue to explore the tower for around an hour but don’t find much else besides a room full of locked chests with all of the hermits’ names on them and a room full of lecterns with books that neither of them can read. After determining that there is nothing more to see, they both go back up the stairs into the first room only to find that something has changed, in the middle of the room, lies a book drenched in a pitch black liquid and bearing the same broken portal symbol from before.

Wels’ and Xisuma’s communicators suddenly buzz in unison, catching them both off guard,

MumboJumbo has gone to sleep

After Xisuma’s heart rate returns to normal, he helps Wels up,

“I guess we are both a little on edge after exploring this place,” says Xisuma, “We should probably go now.”

“Yea,” agrees Wels, “I have to go do something anyway.”

The two hermits then go back to the roof and go their separate ways.

When Xisuma gets back to his base, he pulls out the book that they found in the tower and puts it in a lectern for tomorrow, he then climbs into bed and closes his eyes. He is just about to get comfortable when he hears a deep voice say, 

“Hello Xisuma, it is good to meet you.”


	2. No Running from your past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the chaos begins

When Grian wakes up, he is greeted to the sound of knocking at his door. He quickly rubs his eyes and yawns before going to the door.

“Grian,” Scar says, “Xisuma told me to get you. It’s important.”

Grian could see that Scar was serious, but also that he was slightly nervous, he wondered why.

“Okay,” replies Grian, “just give me a minute, I’ll be right out.”

A minute later, Grian is walking behind Scar and Jellie to Mumbo’s base, Grian is not surprised to find that Mumbo is still asleep. 

Grian sighs, “I somehow knew that he would sleep in again.”

Mambo suddenly wakes up while yelling something about not wanting Grian to shave off his mustache again, he then seems to notice Scar and Grian. 

“Oh um, hi guys.” says Mumbo, “why are you staring at me?”

Scar and Grian exchange looks before Scar says, “mustache dream”

“Oh,” replies Mumbo, then all three of their communicators start buzzing,

<iskall85> Scar?! Did you get them yet?!

<BdoubleO100> Guys! Wake up!

<Docm77> Um guys

“Come on,” says Scar, handing Grian and Mumbo a piece of wizard fruit, he then eats his fruit and teleports away, Grian and Mumbo follow shortly after. When the three of them arrive, Grian and mumbo notice that a large meeting table has been constructed, with a named chair for everyone. Grian, Scar, and Mumbo take their seats while Xisuma walks in on crutches,

“Shashwamy,” Keralis gasps, “what happened?” 

“Last night,” responds Xisuma, grunting a little before sitting down, “Wels and I found an obsidian tower in the jungle between our bases, we explored it, and I found this book.” Xisuma then puts the book on the table, the symbol shines a darkish silver in the sunlight and stands out on the black leather. “After Wels and I parted ways,” continues Xisuma, “I was attacked by something at my base, I couldn't see it, but I could hear its voice.”

“What was it like?” asks Bdubs,

“Its voice made me feel as if I was being watched, and it attacked me through my armor as if it wasn’t there.” replies Xisuma,

“I kind of want to see this tower,” says Doc,

Some of the other hermits nod in agreement,

As soon as Grian saw the book and the symbol it bore, he knew that he didn’t want to be there. Now he is starting to panic, he needs to think of a way out of this without anyone getting suspicious. 

“Um, guys.” says Grian, “I’m feeling sick.”

“I’ll take him home,” says Stress, “besides, I’m not much of a fighter myself.”

“Anyone else not want to go?” Cub asks,

Impulse raises his hand for a second before lowering it again,

  
  


When Stress and Grian get to Stresses base, she makes Grian lay down in a bed and while she starts to brue some healing potions and mushroom stew. Grian is fine with this as it gives him some time to think.

* * *

At first Impulse was reluctant to go on the trip after seeing that the other boomers were going, he couldn’t be the only one who chickened out, so now he’s here at the base of the obsidian tower. Tango walks up next to Impulse and gives him a friendly punch in the shoulder, “you’ll be fine,” he says with a reassuring smile, but Impulse wasn’t so sure. In front of the group there is a large bedrock door.

“So how are we going to get in?” Ren asks, 

“I have no idea.” replies iskall,

Suddenly the doors swing open as if by magic,

“I guess that’s our problem solved.” says beef, the hermits then continue forward through the doorway and into a large room made of Blackstone bricks.

“Huh,” says Wels, “this wasn’t here last night.”

“This shouldn’t even exist yet,” says Xisuma, “these blocks come out in 1.16, the server hasn’t been updated yet.”

“Oh how wrong you are,” says a voice, suddenly the bedrock doors slam shut and once dead torches light up in fire,

False instinctively draws her sword, “show yourself,” she yells,

“You have no power here,” replies the voice before turning False’s blade to dust, “and there is no need to draw your weapon. I am friendly.”

“Then why did you hurt Xisuma?” asks Bdubs,

“He took the book from here,” replies the voice,

“And,” says Xisuma,

“If you had read it, you would know that if you take it, you must sacrifice some health.” replies the voice, “now, please go to the second floor, the chests are unlocked now.”

“Wait a second,” says Xisuma, “what about my bee?”

“Right.” replies the voice, before a bee suddenly pops into existence, flies over to Xisuma, and starts to snuggle up against him. The voice then seems to go quiet.

* * *

Despite what Grian had said, now he really was starting to feel sick. It had been over two hours since he and Stress had left the group and there was still no sign of the other Hermits. Normally Grian was very optimistic about life, but today was different; the Watchers had found him, they hurt Xisuma, and Grian had no idea what to do. Around thirty minutes ago, stress had deemed him well and had sent him back to his mansion to rest. But Grian couldn't sleep, he had too many things on his mind, and now that the Watchers were back, he'd begun to think of EVO again, and that's something he didn't want to remember… especially how it ended. Suddenly there's a knock at his door, Grian gets up from his bed, goes to the door, and opens it. Grian then jumps back,

“Long time, no see.” says a strange looking man, “Wouldn’t you agree Grian?”


	3. The Watcher

As Grian lays on the floor, the strange man gets closer, his left arm, right leg, and head are pitch black while his torso, and other appendages are paper white. He wears a suit similar to Mumbo’s, but even more detailed. Two deep purple eyes stare into Grian’s soul, judging him. The man offers Grian a hand, to which he accepts. Once back on his feet, the man says, “How about some tea to calm the nerves,” in a deep voice and calm tone.

Grian nods slowly in fear, as he walks over to his kitchen,

“No, no.” says the man, “I’ll handle this, you sit down, you’ve been through a lot today.”

Grian nods again and takes a seat at his dining table, a few minutes later the man walks over and hands him a cup of tea, and then sits down next to him. “I assume that in my absence, you have been well?” he asks,

Grian nods and takes a sip of his tea,

“I’m not angry.” says the man, “I’m not here for revenge. I understand that you made a mistake and that you feel bad about it.”

“Then why are you here?” asks Grian,

“That is a long story,” replies the man as he sips his tea, “but to put it briefly, I miss having someone around. It gets lonely up there.”

“I suppose I didn’t think of that.” says Grian,

The man puts an arm around Grian, “hey,” he says, “don’t beat yourself up, you were scared of how I would respond. I get it. If I was in your situation, I would have done the same thing.”

“Really?!” says Grian, surprised,

“Yes,” replies tha man, “I’m serious. Which is why I am giving you another chance.”

Grian gives the man a confused look which quickly changes to nervousness. “What do you mean?” Grian asks,

“I mean that I am allowing you to come back with me to the final first place, you can be a watcher again, and we can forget this world.” says the man,

Grian sighs, “I don’t want to leave though.” he says,

“Oh,” the man replies, “I wasn’t expecting that. After all, before all this, you seemed to enjoy being a watcher.”

“I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy it,” says Grian, “but I have friends here and I don’t want to leave them.”

The man sighs and finishes his tea, “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.” he then gets up from the table and walks over to a window, his hands together behind his back. “Come here.” he says, his voice now tinted by a bit of anger but still calm. Grian quickly gets up and walks over to the man, “take my hand, I need to show you something.” Grian does so.

Suddenly the two are on a mountain, the wind howls as it races through the air. There is fresh, or what looks to be fresh, snow beneath their feet. In the distance, there is a small town of people. Behind him, a stone bridge stretches across the distance between two peaks, one of which holds an obsidian cathedral of watcher design. Grian shivers, the mountain is cold and unrelenting. 

“I don’t know if you remember,” says the man, his voice somehow still clearly heard through the wind, “but this is one of the first buildings you ever built.”

Grian looks at the obsidian structure, its long base and three towers immediately stand out, full of stained-glass windows showing the different watcher legends he had been told. He stares at the building, remembering and reminiscing in the past before he prys himself away from it. Grian sighs, “I’m sorry,” he says, “but I can’t go back to being a watcher. It was fun while it lasted, but I can’t continue.”

The man continues to look at the cathedral, his hands together behind his back, “oh,” he says, “that’s a shame.” The man then turns to look Grian dead in the eyes, his eyes glowing red and his hands by his sides. “I guess then we do this the hard way.” says the man, 

Suddenly Grian and the man are back in Grian’s mansion, “you know what Grian?” says the man, his fists glowing purple, Grian tries to get away but falls over and ends up backed up against a wall, “you are going to regret those words.” Grian is then picked up by his neck and thrown through the wall of his mansion and into a tree, the man’s suit then tears as two heads sprout from his torso, his legs fuse into one, and he begins to float. The man, no, the wither watcher teleports next to Grian, locks him in bedrock shackles to the tree, and says one thing before he disappears,

**“I have to hand it to you, you played by all the same rules, it takes the truth to fool me. But now you’ve made me angry.”**


	4. The Second Tower

It had been a week since Grian had seen the watcher and he was okay with that, he wanted nothing to do with a god-like being that had tried to kill him, besides Grian had other things to worry about; recently, Grumbot had vanished, NPC Grian got out, and he still had to fix the hole in his wall. Grian gets out of bed and goes to his living room, after sitting down on the couch, he turns on the TV to the Hermitcraft Recap Channel; Pixlriffs immediately greets the audience, 

“Welcome to the Hermitcraft Recap, my name is Pixlriffs, our writer is ZloyXP, and recently something has been afoot on the server. A mysterious entity has entered the server” says Pixlriffs in his usual upbeat tone, Grian then glances at the bottom of the screen, to his surprise, there is no caption from Zloy. 

“Huh,” says Grian, “that’s weird.”

“Anyway,” says Pix, “let's take a look at all the events and mishaps that occurred on the hermitcraft server this week.” After that, Grian zoned out for a few minutes before he was suddenly yanked back into reality hearing, “DocM has won the mayoral election, that’s right, in a stunning turn of events Doc was able to get the voters on his side at the very end. Although it was a major win for Doc, I think that I can speak for everyone that we will miss Mumbo’s commercial.” Zloy then comes on screen and hands Pix a book. “Okay, I have just been told that a second obsidian tower has been found in the nether, more details coming up.” Grian then turns off the TV, 

“Oh no,” says Grian as he gets up and begins to pace the floor, “not this, anything but this. I can’t fake my way out of this one, I have to go.”

“Yes, yes you do.” says the watcher, walking out of Grian’s kitchen, “I’m looking forward to this, you know. Finally they will know who you are.”

“Was,” says Grian, “who I was, I’m not like that anymore.”

The watcher laughs and his eyes glow red, “I have something planned, something that will have you begging me to be a watcher again. You said that you don’t want to be a watcher, so I am going to respect that want.” he then begins to laugh and slowly disintegrate.

There is then a knock on Grian’s door, when he opens the door he is surprised to see Joe Hills standing at his door,

“Oh,” says Grian, “hi Joe, what brings you here?”

“I thought I heard something when I was flying by, so I stopped to see if I was right.” replies Joe,

“What kind of thing did you hear? I might be able to help.” says Grian,

“The voice,” replies Joe, 

“The Voice?” repeats Grian,

“Yea, the thing that built the towers.” replies Joe,

Grian freezes, which Joe notices, 

“Are you okay? Do you need to tell me something?” asks Joe, his pack of 10 dogs behind him,

Grian sighs, “no,” he says, “I’m not okay, and I do need to tell you something but you can’t tell anyone.”

“I swear on my life,” says Joe, Grian then invites Joe and his 20 dogs inside. While this happens, a particular entity sits atop a tree, chuckling to himself.

* * *

“So you were like the voice?!” says Joe, “I never would have guessed!”

Grian nods, “we were called watchers,” he says, “I was taken from my previous server; Evolution and turned into a watcher like him.”

“Wait,” says Joe, “I have a question, you said that there were two watchers that took you, why do we see only one?”

Grian sighs and takes a deep breath, “that’s the reason I’m not a watcher anymore, I accidentally killed them.”

“You killed a watcher, how?!” says Joe,

“I don’t remember,” says Grian, “I used the last of my watcher power to erase that from my mind.”

“Wow,” says Joe, “that’s a lot to take in, I don’t know what to say,”

Suddenly, Grian’s door is kicked open and False walks in, “come on guys, we’re going to the tower.” she then adds, “X said that everyone has to come.”

Grian and Joe get up and follow her out the door and then to the nether. Once they arrive, Grian receives a hug from Mumbo, 

“I’m glad you could make it this time,” he says,

“Yea,” says Grian, “me too.”

The hermits then walk up to the tower while Pix and Zloy set up cameras on a nearby cliff.

The watcher then appears before the hermits, he is wearing a black cloak with purple accents and red robes underneath, his face is covered by shadow. “Greetings hermits,” he says, “I am the watcher, you know me as the voice.” he then removes his hood, his pitch black bald head reflects the orange light of the lava below and his purple eyes remind the hermits of the End. “My apologies for the long wait, I am alone in my work and it takes time. In this tower, you will find traps, puzzles, knowledge, and much more. After this tower, I will create a portal for safe transport to the next update. I must warn you though, anyone who is left in the tower will not be joining you at the portal.” he then vanishes into thin air,

“So that’s what he looks like,” says Cub, “from the way that Xisuma described him, I thought he was going to look like Cthulhu.”

The large bedrock doors of the tower then open and the hermits walk in. Inside, there is a bubble elevator going down.

“Is that a bubble elevator!?” says Tango, 

“I believe so,” replies iskall, 

Grain stares at the elevator, thoughts racing through his head, he decides to be brave.

“I don’t know about you guys,” says Grian walking towards the elevator, “But I’m going to be the first one down there.” he then steps backward into the bubble column and is immediately pulled down the pipe.

“That’s the Grian I know,” says Mumbo, he then goes into the pipe. Iskall shrugs and follows as well. Soon, all the hermits are in the pipe.

After about 40 seconds, Grian falls out of the pipe and into an obsidian room, he begins to look around but doesn’t have much time before Scar, Joe, and Xisuma fall out of the tube on top of him in a pile. The four hermits get up, “It seems that we have been separated,” says Xisuma,

* * *

Meanwhile, in another room, Mumbo, iskall, False, and Bdubs are realising the same thing.

“Great, just great,” says Bdubs, “first Scar doesn’t win, then another of these towers appear, and then we all get separated.”

“Bdubs,” says iskall, “calm down, this was probably supposed to happen.”

“Yea,” replies Bdubs, “iskall is probably right.” 

“Guys,” says False, “Where did our armor go?”

* * *

Grian falls to the floor, the bedrock is cold to the touch but considering they are in the nether, it feels good. Grain then gets up and looks back at Scar who is now alone on the platform.

“Come on Scar,” says Grian, “You can do it.”

Scar looks up, he gives Grian a nervous look.

“Come on Scar,” says Joe encouragingly,

“You can do this Scar,” says Xisuma,

Scar takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, runs forward, and jumps. His heart is racing and time seems to slow as he flies through the air, then his eyes open and he hits the side of the block. He begins to fall but Grian and Xisuma grab his hands and pull him up. Scar takes a few seconds before he gets up, his heart is still beating fast. He looks behind him at the lava, it bubbles and spits molten rock up into the air. Scar then lets out a sigh of relief before the four of them continue on to the next room. As they walk into the large bedrock room, the hallway they had just left is sealed off by a wall of obsidian that shoots up from the floor. The room is then filled with the sound of dispensers firing as four iron swords and four shields drop from the ceiling.

* * *

As Bdubs sits on a block or bedrock, he wonders what the other hermits are doing, if they are okay, if they are all going through the same challenges. Bdubs is suddenly woken from his trance by False tapping him on his shoulder,

“Mumbo and iskall said to tell you that they got the door open,” she says, 

Bdubs nods,

“Hey,” says False, putting her hand on Bdub’s shoulder, “what’s wrong? And don’t lie to me.”

“I’m just worried,” he replies, his eyes starting to water, “it hasn't even been that long but I am terrified about the possibility that we could get out of this place and not see everyone there.”

False sits down next to him and puts her arm around him, “hey,” she says calmly, “I get it, I/m worried too, but I also know that we will all be fine.”

Bdubs looks False in the eyes, “do you swear to me?” he asks, “do you swear that we’ll be okay?”

“Yes,” replies False, “I swear,” they both then get up and walk over to the door, Mumbo and iskall are waiting for them, iskall then presses a button and the door retracts into the wall. On the other side, they see an arena with four people fighting what seems to be a pitch black blaze, one of the fighters has a pack of 30 dogs.

* * *

Xisuma was sitting on the floor, his helmet was on the floor next to him and he was breathing heavily. A few seconds ago, a door had opened in the wall on the other end of the arena, four of the other hermits had run out, and the blaze that they had been fighting was slain. Now, False, Bdubs, Mambo, and iskall had joined their group. Suddenly, he was back at his base, 

“Hello Xisuma, it is good to meet you.” says a deep voice, 

Xisuma opened his eyes, a strange mass of black liquid sat in a perfect circle next to him,

“Who’s there?” he yelled,

“Oh, that’s not important,” replies the voice, the black mass shifts into the form of a snake and slithers onto Xisuma’s lap, Xisuma watches in terror as the mass then becomes a squid human hybrid on top of him. “You have taken the book, now you pay.” it says before one of its arms seemingly turns to stone and it jabs it into Xisuma.

Xisuma’s eyes snap open, he is breathing heavily. The seven other hermits are all huddled around him, a moment of silence passes before he is bombarded with the question, “are you okay?” and other similar questions.

“I’m fine guys,” replies Xisuma, “it was only a nightmare.” he proceeds to then quickly put back on his helmet. The group then notices that section of the arena’s wall has been pulled back and down into the floor, revealing the way forward. As the group walks through the door, they see another of the blazes from the arena in a cage, 8 pressure plates, and a closed piston door. 

Grian goes and steps on one of the pressure plates, as he steps on to it, a section of the door opens. “Guys,” says Grian, “step on the pressure plates.” the rest of the group then begin to go on the plates. At the end, the door is fully open and a 9th plate rises out of the ground. The group then gets off their plates and the door closes.

“Huh,” says Iskall, walking over to the 9th plate, “I think I know what to do.” He then steps on the plate and the door opens again. “I thought this would happen,” he says, “one of us has to stay behind and keep the door open.”

Suddenly, the cage keeping the blaze trapped shatters. It then grows until it is 4 blocks tall and its eyes glow red. It lets out a rore reminiscent of the ender dragon and shoots fireballs at iskall. Iskall ducks and evades a fireball but another hits him square in the chest, knocking him unconscious. 

“Go!” says False, “I’ll hold it off.” she then pulls out her sword and steps on the pressure plate, opening the door,

“But what about…” starts Bdubs, 

“I’ll be right behind you.” replies False, “don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”

Bdubs nods and runs through the doorway, Grian and Mumbo pick up iskall and bring him through the door, followed shortly after by Joe and Scar. Xisuma goes to the door and turns back to see False slashing at the blaze, he then runs through the door. With all the others safe, False steps off the plate so she can be more aggressive, the door then closes and the room goes pitch black. The sound of a blaze dying fills the room before it goes quiet again. False immediately knows that something is wrong, she readies her sword but then she drops it. False then falls over and falls asleep. Two purple eyes glow above her, 

“Sleep well Falsesymmetry, you have a big day ahead of you.” the watcher says, the eyes then fade away until there is nothing left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this took so long, but now that school is out, i will be able to post more often.


	5. Change

False pulls at the chains to no avail, the shaking and rattling getting faster as she gets more impatient.

“You know,” says the watcher as he sits on his leather armchair, his legs crossed, “you could just ask for me to remove the chains.”

False stops struggling with her shackles, “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?!” she yells, 

“I forgot how cute you mortals are when you struggle.” replies the watcher, “also, it has been at least a few hundred years since I have gotten to do this. But I guess that my fun is over.” False’s chains then disappear and False falls to the ground, breathing heavily.

“Why… did… you… do this… to me?” asks False in between deep breaths,

“That’s a long story,” replies the watcher, “if you’re lucky, I’ll tell you it.” the watcher then seems to remember something, “oh, and by the way,” he says, “that little promise that you made to your friend about how no one would get left behind, that was cute.”

False gets up and attempts to punch the watcher, he simply sidesteps the attack and watches as False falls to the ground again.

“Considering that I am over 2000 years old, I don’t find that reaction as surprising as I once would have.” says the watcher, “although, I respect your determination.” the watcher then grabs False’s hand, pulls her to her feet, and sits her down in a chair similar to his.

False gives him a confused look but doesn’t get out of the chair as she is relieved to be in a comfortable position.

“Let me tell you a story,” says the watcher, “but first, I can tell that you have questions,”

“Where am I?” asks False,

“The Aether,” replies the watcher, “a world in between the overworld and the end, you mortals no longer have reliable access to it.” the watcher then takes a sip from a mug that False had previously not noticed,

“Why am I here?” asks False, 

“You’re a replacement,” replies the watcher, “for the watcher that ran away,”

“Replacement?!” says False, “what do you mean?”

“I’ll tell that story now,” replies the watcher, “it will answer a lot of your questions. Trust me.”

“Okay then,” says False, “spit it out,”

“Well it all started when I was born.” says the watcher, “I was mortal just like you and your servermates.” As he talks, the walls of the room change to reflect what he is saying, “I was an accident according to my parents,” he says, “but the law of the town that I was born in forbade killing a child after birth, so I was born. My life was pretty bad, my parents hated me, they never told me that they loved me, they beat me. In all truthfulness, I wanted to die to end the suffering, but I also wanted to live so I could make my parents pay for how they treated me.”

“You were abused by your parents?!” says False,

“Yep,” replies the watcher, “but I stuck through it so I could one day have my revenge. I dealt with it for 15 years, the only reason it stopped was because I died. By the way, just to be clear, I didn’t kill myself, I was burned alive in a fire.” the walls of the room then shift from a little home in a small town to that same home on fire. “Somehow,” says the watcher, “my house caught on fire. I was trying to escape when a support for the building fell on me and pinned me to the floor of that house. I died because no one came to help me.” the watcher’s voice starts getting louder and full of more anger, “the worst part is that I saw my parents run past me when I was trapped under the support and leave me to die.”

“Well maybe they knew that they weren't strong enough to help you and they were going to get others.” says False,

The watcher begins to laugh, “that’s funny,” he says, “the fact that you are trying to make them seem like better people then they are.” the watcher stops laughing, “I know that isn’t true,” he says, “because after I died, I waited for a week for them to come and find my body in order to bury it, but guess what happened?” asks the watcher, “THEY DID NOTHING! They pretended that I had never existed.”

“Oh,” replies False, “I don’t know what to say,”

“There’s more,” says the watcher, “after that week, I embraced death, and it paid off. I became the first watcher, the watcher of revenge. I used my new powers to burn that town to ashes and I made my parents suffer the same fate that I had. I loved it, every second of it. And after that my boss allowed me to erase that universe.” the watcher’s eyes glow a blood red as he gets up from his seat, “but that’s my story,” says the watcher as his eyes return to their normal purple, “it was over 2 millennia ago and it doesn’t matter anymore.” he then helps False up from her seat and walks out the door of the building that they are in, False follows him. 

Outside the building, the air is clean, large stone brick towers, buildings, and temples sit upon floating islands that are connected by bridges for as far as the eye can see.

The watcher turns around to face False, “I need to tell you a different story now,” he says, “it happened a little over a year ago.”

“What do you mean?” asks False,

“You know Grian, right?” asks the watcher, “he is a murderer.”

“What?!” says False, “no he isn’t, and even if he was, he would have told us about it.”

The watcher smiles, “Grian used to be a watcher,” he says, “he was the third one, he accidentally killed the second one during a training session. After that, he was terrified of how I would react so he ran away to hermitcraft and used the remainder of his power as a watcher to remove his memory of the incident the best he could. Because of him, I am alone up here. I forgave him because I knew that Two wouldn’t want me to take revenge but I now have a dilemma.”

“What do you mean by dilemma?” asks False,

“Two was very not like me,” replies the watcher, “whereas I was violent by nature, he was empathetic and caring. He was my counterweight, he made sure that I didn’t hurt people. I can’t do that on my own… I have been a watcher too long, my morals are twisted now. I need another watcher up here. I tried to convince Grian to come back, but his attachment to you all made him refuse my offer, he doesn’t trust me anymore. That’s why you are here, I saw that you would be a perfect fit and I designed the second tower to make sure that you would sacrifice yourself to save your friends.”

“What happens if you don’t have a counterweight?” asks False,

“This,” replies the watcher, his voice that of a defeated and desperate man, the ground below them both turns invisible so that False can see through to the ruins of buildings and towns below, destroyed and void of life of any kind. “Please,” says the watcher, “I beg you.”

False sits down on the ground to think as it shifts back to being non-see through, after a few minutes, she gets back up and takes the watcher’s hand in hers, “I’ll do it,” she says, “but only if I can still see my friends.”

The watcher smiles, “you can have whatever you want.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone knew that something was up when Bdubs stopped sleeping, his base had become overgrown with vegetation, and he started living in the nether. Stress decided that she would go and talk to him.

Stress gets out of the portal, she is immediately welcomed by the smell of fire and death giving her a metaphorical sucker punch to the face.

“Ugh,” says Stress, “I forgot that the roof blocks the smell of this place.” she then continues forward. As she walks, she notices that the cave that Bdubs now lives in has been changed to look like the overworld, the sides of the cave entrance have been changed to stone, while the floor is now grass with a gravel path. Trees and lanterns line the path on both sides up until the cave widens out into a large room with a house made of wood, stone, and diorite. Stress was so engulfed by the cave that she didn’t notice False standing in her path until she bumped into her. Stress falls and hits the ground, “False!” she exclaims, “where have you been love?”

“It’s a long story, better left a later time,” replies False, she then offers a hand, to which Stress accepts, “are you going to see Bdubs?” asks False,

“Yes actually,” replies Stress, she then notices that False’s eyes are now a rich purple instead of light blue, “have your eyes always been purple?” she asks,

“I don’t remember,” replies False, “I don’t look at my eyes often, so maybe.” False was disgusted with herself, Why had she just lied to her friend’s face? Why didn’t she tell her that she was a watcher now? False didn’t know but she didn’t say anything either. As the two hermits enter Bdubs’s house, they see Bdubs sitting in a chair facing the other way.

“Go away please,” says Bdubs, “I want to be alone.”

Stress was about to say something but False cuts her off, “bdubs, I told you that I would be right behind you,” False walks over to Bdubs and puts her hand on his shoulder, “I wouldn’t lie to you.”

Bdubs looks up, red marks on his face show that he had been crying, he smiles, “you know, I didn’t doubt you for a second.”

“Sure Bdubs, sure.” replies False before getting hugged so hard by Bdubs that she can’t talk,

When Bdubs is done hugging False, he begins to ask questions, “where were you?”

“I was with the watcher, turns out he is pretty lonely up there, he doesn’t have the best past either. He asked me if I could help him and I said yes.”

“What do you mean by, ‘He asked me if I could help him’?” asks Stress, 

“I’m a watcher now,” replies False, “that’s why my eyes are purple. I just didn’t feel comfortable before saying it out right.”

“Does that mean you have magic?” asks Bdubs,

“Probably,” replies False, “Although, he hasn’t shown me how to use it yet.” then False remembers something, “Guys,” she says, “I need to go and talk to Grian, I want both of you to come with me.”


	7. The Memory

“Aaaand done,” says Grian as he puts the finishing touches on his mansion, he quickly flies down to the ground in order to see his finished creation.

“Hey Grian,” yells False as she flies out of his nether portal and lands right next to him, “we need to talk.”

Grian grabs False’s arms and shakes her, “Where have you been, you have had us all worried sick!” 

“Yea,” says False, rubbing the back of her neck, “about that. I need to talk to you.”

“What do you mean?” asks Grian, 

“I need to talk to you about the watcher,” says False, “

Grian freezes up for a second before saying, “Maybe later with the group, I just remembered that I need to meet up with iskall.” Grian then begins to back away,

“Are you sure that you want the group to know you killed someone?” says False,

Grian stops, “How do you know that?” he asks, “Did Joe tell you?”

Bdubs and Stress then land behind Grian, “Let's talk about it,” says False, “I’ll tell if you tell.”

Grian knows that he can’t escape, he sighs and nods, “fine, follow me.” he then walks past False and begins up the stairs to his front door. False, Buds, and Stress follow.

Once inside, the four of them sit down. Grian then asks, “Where were you?”

“I was with the watcher,” replies False, “he saved me from the blaze and told me about the history of the watchers and himself.”

“He told you his backstory?!” says Grian, surprised, “he didn’t tell me until I had been a watcher for a few months!”

“Wait a second!” says Bdubs, “you’re a watcher too?!”

“Not anymore,” replies Grian, “I left after…” Grian stops, he then takes a deep breath before he continues, “I left after I killed Two.”

“Who’s Two?” asks Stress,

“Two was the second watcher’s nickname, we called him that because he never told us his real name.” replies Grian, “The watcher that came here is One, he doesn’t remember his name.”

“Are you Three then?” asks Bdubs,

“Yes,” replies Grian, “but don’t call me that, I don’t like it.”

“Why did you kill Two?” asks Bdubs,

“It was an accident, but I don’t remember how. All I know is that after it happened, I used my powers to erase the memory from my brain.” replies Grian,

False then buts in, “The watcher told me that it was a training accident.”

“That can’t be it,” replies Grian, “I may not remember how it happened, but that definitely wasn’t it. I remember watcher training, it is practicing magic on inanimate objects, never other people.” Grian then gets up, “hold on,” he says, “I need to get something.” He then runs up to a bookcase and pulls a book out, the bookcase then becomes semi-transparent, revealing a hallway behind it.

“What is that?!” yells Stress, surprised, 

“It’s a pocket dimension,” replies Grian, “A remnant from my watcher days.” Grian then runs down the hallway behind the bookcase and into a dustly, stone room, False, Bdubs, and Stress right behind him. Grian begins opening the many chests in the room as the others look around. The room is lined with chests and bookshelves, in one corner there is an armor stand with a dusty black cloak with purple accents over an equally dusty red robe hanging on it. The walls of the room at one point were smooth but now they are cracked and covered in vines. Grian then pulls a book out of a chest and opens it on a lectern, “Here it is,” he says,

“Here is what?” asks False, 

“My old mind magic textbook.” replies Grian, the book then flips to a seemingly random page, it is printed in a strange language.

“What does it say?” asks Stress,

“It explains how to reverse memory erasing spells.” says Grian, “it’s in the watcher language, the same that the enchanting table uses.”

“Huh,” says False, “and you can read it?”

“Yes,” replies Grian, “It’s another remnant from my watcher days.” Grian then begins to read out loud;

“ **Oリᓵᒷ ᔑ ᒲᒷᒲ𝙹∷||, ᓭ╎リᓵᒷ ⎓𝙹∷⊣𝙹ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ᒷリ, リ𝙹∴ ∷ᒷᒲᒷᒲʖᒷ∷ᒷ↸, 𝙹リᓵᒷ ⎓𝙹∷⊣𝙹ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ᒷリ** ” he then drops to the floor, his hands pressed over his ears as he writhes.

False quickly looks at the book, the meaningless symbols rearrange themselves to form the sentence; **_Once a memory, since forgotten, now remembered, once forgotten._ ** She then grabs Grian’s arm and attempts to pull him to his feet, but Grian falls over again and continues to writhe. False picks up the book and flips through the pages as Stress and Bdubs look on is horror. False then finds the page she is looking for,

“ **S𝙹𝙹ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᒲ╎リ↸, ᓵᔑꖎᒲ ᔑℸ ̣ ꖎᔑᓭℸ ̣ , ᓵᔑᓭℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ⍊╎ᓭ╎𝙹リ, ꖌ╎ꖎꖎ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ !¡ᔑᓭℸ** ̣” says False as she reads from the book, Grian then stops writhing, sits up, and looks around. The page of the book displays the sentence; **_Soothe the mind, calm at last, cast the vision, kill the past._ **

“Thanks,” says Grian,

“No problem,” replies False, sighing as she helps her friend to his feet,

“Excuse me!” yells Bdubs, “But what just happened?!”

“I’m guessing that the memory was really bad,” says Stress, “so False erased it again.”

“Yea,” says False, “It looked pretty bad.”

Grian sighs, “I need to remember,” he says, “but if I do, I go feral.” Grian then has an idea, “False, call Doc and tell him to organize a meeting at town hall a few hours from now,” says Grian, “I think I know how to get past me going feral. I’ll explain at the meeting.”

False takes out her communicator,

<Falsesymmetry> hey Doc, can you help me call a meeting at town hall? It’s urgent

<Docm77> yes, meet you there to discuss more

<Falsesymmetry> on my way

* * *

A few hours later,

False stands on the steps of the town hall, the rest of the hermits are gathered below, unaware of what is about to unfold. “Good afternoon,” begins False, “I am sorry that I made Doc get you all but it is important, Grian has something to say.” Grian then flies in and lands next to False, 

“I am a watcher,” says Grian, “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner, but I didn’t know how you all would react.”

“You’re a watcher?!” says Mumbo, “How long have you been hiding this?”

“Since the start of season 6.” replies Grian, “Today, I was confronted by False about it, I explained that I used to be a watcher but now no longer consider myself one because I ran away from that life. I ran away because I killed another watcher, the friend of the watcher that you all have seen. After it happened, I erased the event from my memory, but earlier today, I used magic to make myself remember.”

“I was there when he restored his memory,” says False, “and I saw that it caused him pain to remember, so I erased it again.”

“Why are we here?” asks Xisuma, 

  
“I’m going to show you the memory that I forced myself to forget,” replies Grian, “so that you all can understand why I left the watchers, and so that you can tell me why I left.” Grian then takes out the watcher mind magic book and opens it to a seemingly random page, he then begins to read aloud;

“ **Rᒷᓵᔑꖎꖎ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ⍊╎ᓭ╎𝙹リ, ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑℸ ̣ リ𝙹∴ ╎ᓭ ⎓𝙹∷⊣𝙹ℸ ̣ , ℸ ̣ ∷ᔑリᓭ⎓𝙹∷ᒲ ℸ ̣ ⍑╎ᓭ !¡ꖎᔑᓵᒷ ╎リℸ ̣ 𝙹 ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ⍑𝙹⚍⊣⍑ℸ ̣** ” the world then fades to black as the page spells out; **_Recall the vision, that now is forgot, transform this place into that thought._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it has been a while since I last posted, I haven't had much motivation lately and so I haven't been working on this. But, I recently have had a new burst of motivation and I am excited to write again!
> 
> P.S. Comments are welcome and appreciated, I love reading feedback and am open to discussion.


	8. The End

Jevin walked through the still empty rooms of his unfinished base. Around two hours ago, he had received a message from Doc telling him and everyone else to meet up at the town hall, he had decided not to go. Why? Because he had caught the slime flu from his green brethren and was in self-quarantine to protect the hermits. Thankfully he wasn't alone, as Scar had offered to drop off Jellie to keep Jevin company since cats can’t get the slime flu. So here Jevin was, with Jellie to keep him company when suddenly, someone says hello.

Jevin turns around, the watcher doesn’t react; he just continues to sit cross-legged in his chair as he sips his tea. “Oh, hi?!” replies Jevin, “I wasn’t expecting you.”

The watcher summons a small table next to his chair and sets his cup down, he then stands up, “my apologies,” says the watcher, “I wasn’t expecting to be here either but your friends have made it quite hard for me to feel welcome recently.”

“Really?!” replies Jevin, “normally they’re really nice.”

“I know,” says the watcher, “I can’t believe that I saved False’s life and then she turned around and tried to kill me!”

“What?!” says Jevin, “She tried to kill you?!”

“Yes,” replies the watcher, “and she almost succeeded, if I hadn't been a watcher, I would be dead.” Jevin then notices a large wound across the watcher’s lower torso, a purple liquid oozing out. 

“Um,” says Jevin, “are you okay?”

“For the most part; yes,” replies the watcher, “I’ll heal, but unfortunately for you; you’re not me.” the watcher then summons a sword made of barrier blocks to his hand and slices up through the blue slime man, cutting him in two. “At least now we’re even.” says the watcher as he begins to cough up the purple liquid, he then lets the sword in his hand fall to the floor,

Suddenly, False and Xisuma land next to the watcher and grab his arms, but the watcher doesn’t struggle, instead he begins to laugh a blood curdling laugh, Grian then lands, picks up the watcher’s sword, and stabs him between the eyes with it.

As the watcher’s corpse falls to the floor, **Jevin takes his final breath…**


	9. The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian's forgotten memory

“Grian!” yells Two, “Come here, I need your help with something!”

Grian’s eyes snap open, he jumps out of bed and puts on his robes and cloak. He then quickly opens the door to his room and runs out into the hallway. “Sorry,” he says, “I was sleeping,”

“It’s okay, I forgive you,” replies Two, he then gives Grian a friendly smile, “Anyway, I need you to come with me.”

“Okay,” says Grian, Two then leads Grian down the hallway, out of the building, and into the training area.

As the two watchers enter, Two begins to cry a little.

Grian notices and says, “Two… are you crying?”

Two lets out a small chuckle before answering, “no,” he replies, he then wipes the tears off his face with his arm, “I’m fine, it’s… just a little eye sweat.” Tears then start rolling down Two’s face,

“Are you sure?” asks Grian empathetically,

“I can’t keep this up,” says Two as he falls back into a chair that he summoned, “I can’t keep doing this, One will never learn if I do.”

“What do you mean?” asks Grian, confused and scared,

“Remember how One calls me his ‘counter weight’?” asks Two,

“Yea,” replies Grian,

“He calls me that because I am constantly making sure that he doesn’t hurt anyone, he says that he needs me to do that so that he doesn’t hurt anyone. It’s all lies, he can regulate himself on his own; back before he was a watcher, he never hurt anyone... but he wanted to.” Two is yelling now, “HE DOESN’T NEED ME AND HE KNOWS IT! FOR ONE THOUSAND YEARS, I HAVE BEEN COMPLIANT, but I’m done.”

“What do you mean?” Grian asks again, he is shaking now,

“Grian, I want you to kill me.” replies Two, “and then banish my soul.”

“But... “ starts Grian, 

“Please,” begs Two, “let me be free of this torcher, let me be at peace. A watcher can’t kill themselves because the boss forbids it, so I need you to do it.”

“Can’t we find a different way where you don’t have to die?” asks Grian desperately,

“Grian,” says Two, “If you were in my place, you wouldn’t want to live in the same world as that monster either. He may have had a rough beginning, and there may have been hope for him long ago, but that time is over, now he is only a sick and twisted evil man that has been irreversibly consumed by a lust for revenge and the pain of others. There is no hope for him anymore. So please, kill me, banish my soul, and then run away from here, go to the server that you love to watch, be happy, but forget us, forget the watchers, erase your memory even, and never look back.” Two then summons a sword to his hand, “here, use this. Strike me down and end my suffering.”

Grian is crying now, but he takes the sword anyway, he then nods his head and rises the sword up before closing his eyes and stabbing it into Two’s chest so deep that it sticks out the other side.

As Two sits in the chair, dieing, he utters his last words, “Grian,” he says,

“Yes?” answers Grian, crying, as he stands over Two as he dies,

“Promise me something, if after you run away, you ever see One again, kill him for me, make the world a better place and slay the beast... for me.”

“I promise,” says Grian as he cries hot tears, “I promise.” Grian then sees the purple of Two’s eyes turn white which lets him know that Two is dead. Afterward, Grian gathers his things, and uses his powers one last time before he embarks to Hermitcraft, Grian opens his magic book and banishes Two’s soul so that it can finally be at peace. Grian then smiles and walks through the portal, leaving his past behind him.


	10. Avenge the fallen

Grian stumbles and falls backward as the vision ends, the other hermits starring in silence, still in shock at what they had just seen. Grian is curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth all the while crying uncontrollably. False kneels down next to Grian in an attempt to comfort him.

Then he speaks… the Watcher slowly claps as he descends from the sky, “bravo,” he says, “Now that was exciting.” he then lands gently next to Grian and False,

False stands up and faces the watcher, her purple eyes glowing in anger, “you lied to me!” she yells, “you lied to all of us and drove your friend to suicide!” False pulls out her sword and slashes at the watcher, cutting a large gash in his lower torso.

The watcher stumbles back, clutching his fresh wound with his hand, “YOU BITCH!” he yells, his eyes turning red, he then snaps his fingers, sending False flying into a nearby wall which collapses around her. “YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME!” he yells, still holding his stomach as a purple liquid oozes out. He then snaps his fingers again and disappears.Grian gets up, his face is red from tears but that doesn’t change the fact that he is determined. He walks over to False and pulls her out from under the rubble,

“I need to end this,” says Grian, “I need your help.”

False nods and looks at the other hermits, Jevin is missing. “Xisuma, come on.” says False, “It’s going to take three of us to kill him.”

Xisuma simply nods and equips his elitra, the three of them then fly to Jevin’s base.

* * *

As the watcher lays dying, he smiles, and then continues to laugh,

“What are you laughing at?” asks Grian, with fire in his eyes,

“You all are fools,” replies the watcher as the purple of his eyes drain away, “by killing me, you have set your destiny in the very bedrock that this world sits upon. There must always be a watcher Grian, always. And now that I am dead, you must take my place, I have won.” the watcher then begins laughing crazily until his final breath, the sword in his head then hits the floor as his body turns to dust and blows away.

“Grian?” asks False, “Is what he said true?”

“Sadly yes,” replies Grian, “over a week ago now, he told me that I can’t run from my past. I guess he was right.”

“Grian,” says Xisuma, “I only kinda know what just happened but I think that if you need to be a watcher, make the best of it. You don’t need to follow his rules because he’s dead now, you can be a watcher that way you want to be.”

Grian smiles, “thanks X, I needed that. And I think I’ll take your advice.”

‘Hey,” replies Xisuma, “don’t mention it.”

The three of them then look over at Jevin’s body, or halves of his body if you want to get specific. Suddenly, Jevin walks up behind them, “Did you guys forget that we respawn?”

Jevin is then given a group hug which quickly stops after it is discovered that Jevin still has a wrap-around scar from getting cut in half.

“Sorry,” the three hermits then say,

“It’s fine,” replies Jevin, “At least I’m alive.” then Jevin points at the sword on the floor, “what are we going to do with that?” he asks,

“I’ll take it,” replies False, “besides, I think I’m going to stay a watcher it it is a watcher’s weapon.”

“You’re going to stay?” asks Grian,

“Yea,” replies False, “I wouldn’t want you to become like One and start killing people.”

“So you’re keeping an eye on me?” says Grian,

“Yes,” replies False, “it is kinda my job now, with me being a watcher and all.”

“You didn’t just say that,” says Grian, 

The four friends then laugh and continue to tell jokes to each other,

“Wait,” says Xisuma, “we killed the watcher before he updated the server to 1.16, how are we going to get to the new update?”

“Can’t you just update it like you normally do?” asks Jevin,

“Nope,” replies Xisuma, “when the watcher first showed up, he removed my admin rank.”

The hermits then look at Grian,

“Don’t look at me, I never learned how to do that.” says Grian,

“You’re joking, right?” says False,

Grian then goes silent, then he says “we didn’t think this through, did we?” 

Scar then appears and Jellie runs over and into his arms, “hey guys… wait, what’s wrong?” he says,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, so this is it from me for a little bit because I just want to take a little brake, but don't fret, I will be back and with more of this story
> 
> P.S. Shout out to XxFoxflowerxX, MobCharacter, Acideye, moji964, Nhi_theuserof_this, octopus_defence, Crescendo_of_Thoughts, When_The_Bell_Tolls, ceruleansandstone, Over_Emotional, ANightToRemember11, Luna3003, Diamond_Ocelot6, QhrystalRose, XxPZMistxX, Danasour_and_Philianlion, KrazyCat6167, Maxine_the_wolf, Sh4dow_Angel, Wonderism, TotallyNotAThief, DarkMoon848, LubDaDub, Red_Dragon18, AGCninja, Shining_Diamondsae, Pixelfun20, PurpleNinja11, Library_Bug11, Roxas_Aster, and WhiteOrchidea. Thank you all and I will see you later.


End file.
